Posted on 01/06/2006 1:27:17 PM PST by NormsRevenge
MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) - A husband and wife who got a dog sitter for their puppies but left the man's two young children home alone while they partied in Las Vegas face felony child endangerment charges, authorities said Friday.
Jacob Calero, 39, and Michelle De La Vega, 32, of San Ramon, were scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Walnut Creek on two counts each of child endangerment for alleged abuses dating back to October, said prosecutor Dara Cashman.
"It's a continuous course of conduct," she said. "There's been no consistent child care since mid-October."
Each faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted of all charges, Cashman said.
The charges come a day after the children's grandmother, Libbey Holden, asked a juvenile court judge for custody of 10-year-old Joshua and his 5-year-brother, Jason, who is autistic.
Authorities say Calero and De La Vega asked the older boy to look after his brother while they were away on a five-day vacation. The children spent one night alone before police found them.
Holden said she called police because she had suspected the couple left the children at home in San Ramon, about 35 miles east of San Francisco.
"My husband and I are in agreement that these kids, like any other children, like any other human beings, deserve love, time and affection of a parent. If nobody is willing to do that, we are here," Holden, 60, of Manteca told reporters before Thursday's hearing.
Attorneys on both sides refused to comment on the results of the confidential hearing.
Holden's daughter, Maria Cristina Calero, is the boys' mother. She died of breast cancer in 2003.
Meanwhile, Jacob Calero's sister told the San Jose Mercury News that her brother said he "screwed up," but insisted the boys' grandmother had promised to take care of them.
Calero maintains that Holden then backed out by leaving a voicemail that he never heard, said the sister, Patsy Black of North Carolina.
Holden denied she agreed to baby-sit the children because she had to work, Black said.
"I don't know who to believe here," Black told the Mercury News. "My brother is a good person, but he's irresponsible. He's a newlywed. He had more on his plate than he could handle."
The couple was taken into custody on Wednesday as they arrived home on a flight to Oakland. They had left town Friday to celebrate the new year, authorities said.
More concerned about his new wife than his children. It is as simple as that. His new wife sounds like a real winner, I am sure she could care less about the children. I hope they both get the 7 years in prison.
Some people just shouldn't be parents.
they so deserve what they get. The grandmother should have custody these nimrods can't even take care of themselves...
How can you leave the house with you two kids in it and NOT be absolutely certain there was someone there to take care of them?! This guy doesn't deserve parental rights.
I know. I can't believe it. Amazing, the lack of intelligence in this human race.
There is something funny about this story. The parents say that they asked the grandma to watch the kids and arranged the puppy care. But Grandma says they never did. But she did check on the kids because she felt they had been abandoned within one day. Then she ask for custody of her dead daughter's children.
Maybe I am just suspicious, but I think the grandma disapproved of the dad, especially after he remarried and wanted the kids. He refused. Maybe she was asked and just set the parents up by saying sure and then not doing so and went by the house. Just seems more to the story then we have heard.
Something stinks here, and it's not just the dad.
I have the same suspicion as you. Also I would not be surprised if there is not a social security disability check for the autistic child and possibly social security survivor payments for both children due from the deceased parent.
Grandma may just want to quit work and this would enable her to "stay home and care for the children".
hmmm, maybe the grandma is lying just to get custody, interesting...
I'm assuming it is the paternal grandmother? Maybe not?
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